Community members welcome STEM students back with words of love

Krystal Jensen, left, and her 12-year-old daughter Kierra welcome STEM students back to school on May 15. About a week earlier, the school experienced a shooting that left one student dead and eigth others injured. "They need all the love they can get right now," said Krystal, who homeschools her daughter.

Alex DeWind

Krystal Jensen, left, and her 12-year-old daughter Kierra greet STEM students with words of kindness and encouragement on May 15. It was the first day back for elementary school students after a school shooting on May 7 that killed one student and left eight others injured.

Alex DeWind

Kait Bateman and her two young children welcome elementary students back to STEM School Highlands Ranch on May 15. The school had been closed for a week following a school shooting that killed one student and left eight others injured.

Alex DeWind

A memorial sits outside of STEM School Highlands Ranch, where a shooting on May 7 left one student dead and eight others injured. Students were given the option to go back to school on May 15 to finish out the year.

Alex DeWind

A memorial grows in the front of STEM School Highlands Ranch, where a shooting on May 7 left one student dead and eight others injured. Students were given the option to return to school on May 15.

On a cloudless day, the sun beaming down, a small group of parents and children stood along Barrons Boulevard in Highlands Ranch waving posters with words of encouragement.

“You are smart.”

“You are what this world needs. We are proud of you.”

“You are brave and courageous.”

On May 15, students at STEM School Highlands Ranch were given the option to return to school. Eight days earlier, a school shooting had killed one student and left eight others injured.

The K-12 school reopened on a modified schedule, according to a statement from a spokesperson. Students who were interested and able to finish the year were welcomed back. Other students, who understandably weren't ready, didn't have to return to the school. Graduation is still scheduled to take place on May 20, though no students, families or staff are required to participate.

Krystal Jensen, joined by her 12-year-old daughter and friend, planned the welcome-back posters to show support for a community that has experienced so much devastation.

“They need all the love they can get right now,” Jensen said.

The passengers in the cars waved as they drove past. Many had words written on the back window in blue and yellow, the school's colors.

“We are disgusted by the behavior of the officers in Minnesota,” Douglas County Sheriff Tony Spurlock told members of the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee. “Those were bad cops, and if they work for any sheriff in this room they would have been fired just the same.”